Sunday, March 9, 2014

Knoxville Marathon Week 7




Monday: REST
Work stressin me the eff out.

Tuesday: REST
Work stressin me the eff out again.

Wednesday: 5 mile Tempo @ 7:18. (7 miles total)
Felt overheated and rusty like a tin man that's been left out in the rain. Strength + Core stuffs too.

Thursday: Recovery 5 miles.
Flushing the gunk out.

Friday: 18 miles, 2:27
Another pre-work long run in the books. Didn't experiment with real foodz because I didn't plan ahead. DERP. Felt a little hot, but otherwise an uneventful slightly progressive run with the final 5 miles around GMP.

Saturday: Easy 5
Felt like shit. Ate a ton of food for brunch and struggled through this one 4 hours later.

Sunday: Easy 7 + 2 sets strength stuffs
Mildly progressive + filled with rage because of our elderly neighbor and her barking "Rats" which never STFU. One or all 3 (barking rats, not elderly neighbor) shit in the hallway and she didn't clean up until after they went for a walk.

Wore my new Lulu skirt to test out and it was AH-MAZING. It didnt take a chunk out of my thighs, so I believe it will be part of my race day outfit. And... IT HAS 4 POCKETS!!! No need for a janky spi-belt or fanny pack now. YAY! My NEWtons also are feeling great after the 18 miler and the 7 miler. finally broken in after 50 miles and my feet are very happy. :)
With Knoxville fast approaching 3 weeks from today, I've been feeling every type of emotion towards this race. One moment i'll feel super confident in my abilities, and the next wonder why the eff am I doing another marathon. I'm doing another because I have unfinished business. I won't settle until I reach my goal, ok that's a lie. I'll never settle. The awful memories of Fox Valley 2013 creep into my head more than I would like, and I wonder if the same bonk-fest will happen at Knox. Answer: Probably not since I know what caused it and have figured out a solution to avoid the great bonk in the future.
Some of the thingz I've realized this time around...

  • I cannot take 2 days off in a row and expect to run a hard tempo with "ease." 
  • Looking back at past training cycles helps build confidence. Especially since i'm much stronger now than back in September 2013 as evidenced by my training logs.
  • Figuring out why I bonked at FVM was important, and the changes I've made to my nutrition since have made a huge difference in my runs.
  • Acknowledging I have some sort of pre-run anxiety happening before speed work and long runs. Once I get running, all those feelings fade.
  • I want to run more than 5 days a week but won't change this until post marathon. 

Stuff to remember going into my final high mileage week:

  • I have all the confidence in Coach and her plan to get me to the start line ready to smash my goal for this race.
  • I've been putting in all the work and need to trust in my training and myself.
  • The bonk-fest of FVM won't happen in a future race due to tweaking my nutrition & knowing the cause of the issue.
  • I love running and chasing better times for as long as my body allows. 
  • In the words of Macklemore "This is F*CKING AWESOME."

3 weeks. Time is flying by and I'm getting more and more excited for this race. It will be so nice to run outside in a new area and even tackle some hills.AND HAVE FUN!

- xaar

14 comments:

  1. Way to keep going. Sorry to hear about the work crap, I sure can empathize there. Can't wait to hear how you knock this one out of the park!!! <3

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    1. thanks lady :) good thing is the work stuff should pass in the next day or 2. If anything could go wrong last week it did.. sigh. Heres to a better week for both of us!

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    2. SOMEDAY I want to run with you. You are such an inspiration to me hon, I hope you know that! I am in your corner cheering you on! Just picture me with that sign in Naperville! I have virtual high fives coming your way!

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  2. uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhmazing. that is all.

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  3. LOVE the skirt! LOVE LOVE!

    You will be awesome in Knox.,...faith in the coach...complete faith she has in you!

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  4. Great skirt! Oh and I hear ya about work stressing you out. :(

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  5. It's going to be an amazing race for you! Every race/run is a chance for us to learn and grow.

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  6. Didn't realize it was 3 weeks away, that is soon! Seems like you will do really well based on your training times and schedule.

    I'm curious, what other shoes do you run in? I likely will need a trail shoe eventually, since Newtons don't seem like a very good trail shoe. Also, any other road shoes that you like that are also zero drop ish? I also have a pair of Brooks Pure Flow that I don't like as much as Newtons. Based on reading about it, the Saucony Virrata sounds like a good road shoe too.

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  7. You got this one! Hope the weather on race day is perfect!!

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  8. You totally know what was up at FVM now and are prepared for Knoxville! Don't even dwell on FVM anymore. It's OVA! :) Visualize Knoxville and how great you will feel (and cute you will look, man that skirt is short! hubba hubba! I bet L liked it ;) ).

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  9. The skirt is so cute, I love my Lulu skirts and all the pockets are wonderful. You are getting so close, I am so excited for you, since I am not training for anything I have to get my racing excitement from other people right now :)

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  10. That skirt is super cute! I may have go back to my old Lululemon ways...(I got mad at them for a hot minute. They gave zero fucks. lol) Your training looks kick ass girl. You got this!

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